“I’m happy to announce that version 19.0 is now available for download,” says Peter Bonne, CEO of Orbit GT at the InterGeo Conference 2019 held in Germany. With the advent of the smart city, Bonne says that 3D data is destined to be used throughout organizations.

Autonomous vehicle development is front and center in the news these days, with geospatial companies working hard to provide the autonomous technology necessary to populate the world’s highways with safe, responsive robotic vehicles. This technology is also a part of the greater vision for resilient or “smart” cities, as new cities are created or revamped and the desire is to incorporate self-driving vehicles into the fabric of the new infrastructure.

Katie Nelson, Geospatial Ninja for Apollo Mapping, spoke with GISCafe Voice about their most recent product release, Map Mavin. Apollo Mapping was formed in 2011 and resells satellite imagery from firms such as DigitalGlobe, Airbus and international imagery providers.

A significant number of acquisitions were announced at the Bentley Year in Infrastructure 2018 conference held in October at the Hilton London Metropole in London. Three of these acquisitions further the new iTwin Services effort.

Bentley’s new open source iModel.js library for web-based immersive visualization will be the vehicle by which the iTwin Services will deliver benefits.

GISCafe will focus on specific editorial for 2019, so be sure to check in with our Editorial Calendar to find out when might be a good time for your story to be shown. Throughout the year, we provide space for Current Events, as the technology industry is evolving, and we can’t know at the time of this writing just what will be new, groundbreaking and/or disruptive in the coming year.

What the rugged tablet market has been waiting for: scientific-grade accurate measurements on a tablet for those engaged in non-land surveying work. These rugged tablets can deliver centimeter-level measurement accuracy faster and easier than using conventional land surveying equipment and at a fraction of the cost – which, in turn, improves safety for first responders during collision reconstruction, natural disasters and crime scenes, according toKevin Tsai, senior product engineer for DT Research. The combination of accurate measurement, small size, and ability to complete other functions on the same device makes these tablets extremely flexible and efficient.

DT Research, designer and manufacturer of purpose-built computing solutions for vertical markets, announced the DT372AP-TR Rugged RTK Tablet, a lightweight military-grade tablet that is purpose-built with Real Time Kinematic (RTK) used to enhance the precision of position data derived from satellite-based positioning systems, according to company materials. This tablet enables 3D Point Cloud creation with centimeter-level accuracy – that meets the high standards required for scientific-grade evidence in court.

David Smith, Senior Director of Model Development at CoreLogic, spoke with GISCafe Voice about the recent analysis of loss from flooding from Hurricane Florence released by CoreLogic.

CoreLogic analysis shows Hurricane Florence is estimated to have caused between $20 billion and $30 billion in flood and wind losses.

According to this new data analysis, flood loss for residential and commercial properties in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia is estimated to be between $19 billion and $28.5 billion which includes both storm surge and inland flooding. Specifically, uninsured flood loss for the same area is estimated to be between $13 billion and $18.5 billion. Wind losses are estimated to be an additional $1 billion to $1.5 billion.

What percentage of loss from flooding is characteristically covered by insurance?

The percentage of flood losses covered by insurance, whether through the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) or through private insurance, is typically low in major flood events, especially on the residential side. Our modeling indicates that about 85 percent of the residential flood losses in Florence will be uninsured. This is even greater than the estimated 70 percent of uninsured residential flood losses as a result of Hurricane Harvey last year.

Will new areas be considerate for designated Special Flood Hazard Areas after this hurricane?How does that work?

It’s possible that new areas could be considered for designated Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) after Hurricane Florence. FEMA is continually updating its flood maps and flood elevations, and major flood events in the past have raised the priority of such updates in the affected areas.

It’s important to recognize that the SFHAs are designed to identify areas that are subject to flooding with an annual probability of 1 percent or greater – sometimes described as a 100-year return period. Areas outside the SFHAs often flood in major events, in which we often see rainfall return periods well beyond 100 years.

In July 2018, a deeply disturbing and violent video began to circulate on social media. Taking place in Cameroon, it depicts two women and two young children being led at gunpoint away from a village by a group of Cameroonian soldiers. Blindfolded, the victims are forced to the ground and shot 22 times by the soldiers.

With regard to the 2020 Census, an accurate address file for each state is essential, otherwise each state could lose millions of dollars in federal funding. It can also affect state budget obviously, and number of seats in Congress (determined by count).

What are ways the Census can ensure everyone gets counted in 2020?

Our goal is a complete and accurate census.

An accurate count helps determine how the nation allocates tax dollars to pay for services used by the entire local population — citizens and noncitizens alike and accurate data are crucial for determining how many congressional seats each state gets.

We need communities to help us spread the word that all census responses are confidential and we will continue working with trusted voices in local communities to encourage people to participate.

What are any new requirements for the 2020 LUCA program for identifying individuals and how do they contrast with past requirements?